When asked about The Beatles, Jones said: “They were the worst musicians in the world. They were no-playing motherfuckers. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it”

Following the news of the death of legendary music producer Quincy Jones, fans are re-sharing a controversial interview in which he took aim at The Beatles and U2.

In 2018, Jones recalled his first impressions of the Fab Four in the now infamous interview, in which he described rock music as “nothing but a white version of rhythm and blues”, as well as detailing the first time he met Paul McCartney when the Beatle was 21.

When asked what his first impressions of the Liverpool band were, Jones replied: “That they were the worst musicians in the world. They were no-playing motherfuckers. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it.”

He shared the anecdote with Vulture about being in the studio with the band and producer George Martin, where the drummer had “taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song”. “He couldn’t get it,” Jones said. We said, ‘Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.’

“So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says, ‘George, can you play it back for me one more time?’ So George did, and Ringo says, ‘That didn’t sound so bad.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, motherfucker because it ain’t you.’ Great guy, though.”

In the same interview, Jones revealed that U2 frontman Bono made the producer “stay at his castle” whenever he goes to Dublin “because Ireland is so racist”.